Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Kill Me In Yoshiwara
Burns Bannion #5: “Kill Me In Yoshiwara” by Earl
Norman (Norman Thompson). When Mrs. Oaba responds to Bannion’s newspaper add
for a private detective, he heads for the village of Katsu where he learns the
lady wants him to find her older daughter, Kazuko, who is missing. However,
stopping at a Japanese castle he thinks is abandoned, he finds the body of a
girl murdered by a karate blow. He doesn’t tell Mrs. Oaba that he has already
found her daughter. Now, trying to figure how to let the woman know Kazuko is
dead, the local police find the body and suspect – Burns Bannion of the deed.
Here we have another nice tale of karate action, and our hero barely survives
in one piece, but in the end is left on the mat with the younger daughter, Hiroka. My copy is the ERLE edition, published in
Japan, and it is filled with typos. Hedges is still Johnny-on-the-spot, and we
still don’t know exactly what he is, but probably CIA. Inspector Ezawa appears
to be a little more lenient with P.I. Burns Bannion staying in Japan under
false pretenses.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Kill Me In Shinjuku
Burns Bannion #4: “Kill Me In Shinjuku” by Earl Norman
(Norman Thompson). Bannion’s old
newspaper (AKA CIA) buddy, Hedges sends him to help an Australian stripper
playing the Shinjuku clubs. From Ginger Peaches, he hears a strange story about
a street peddler and missing time (along with an important love letter). From
the girl’s apartment, he’s sapped over the head and dropped from the top of a
fence, and in a daze, hears a voice inform him that he will soon die. Next he
visits his karate instructor and runs into Inspector Ezawa, who tells him a
similar story about the wife of a diplomat meeting a strange street seller.
There’s one cute chapter where Bannion enters a supposedly haunted abandoned
Army firing range, then crawls through a small tunnel below ground in a death
trap. The case actually stems from a previous story, and his killing of a gang
lord in that adventure. This one has a nice twist at the end, however. Very
good.